Main Menu

Tastings & Events

Featured Articles

Drinking Old Wine
Many of our favorite wines have been old bottles. While the great majority of wines are made to be consumed within a couple of years of their production, the relatively few wines that are intended to age can offer absolutely magical tasting experiences.
We are pleased to offer older wine

Decanting Wine
The following will GREATLY enhance your pleasure with a bottle of older wine. It may sound like a hassle, but it’s really not so bad, and well worth the trouble.
Basic Wine Decanting 101
There is nothing complicated or mysterious about this process; just follow these simple instruct

New from the Jura: Les Granges Paquenesses!Loreline Laborde is living the fantasy many city dwellers have during rush hour: fleeing the city to live a quiet life in harmony with nature. After completing her formal studies in viticulture, Loreline left the bustling city of Montpellier to make wine in the undulating foothills of Tourmont, a vi

Broc Cellars Rocks!Based out of Berkeley, California, Broc Cellars is an exciting winery, headed by winemaker Chris Brockway, that focuses on offbeat wines from intriguing and often much older vineyards. Their winemaking process uses only native yeasts with minimal doses of SO2 at bottling. These wines

Chambers Street Holiday Whiskey GuideWhen the weather starts dipping below freezing and the holidays are upon us, I increasingly find myself reaching for a dram of the darker stuff. And as I look for interesting and exciting gifts for friends and family, a bottle of small batch and handcrafted whiskey makes it to the top of my list. Wh

10% Case Discount

Get 10% off the purchase price with every order of 12 bottles or more of still wine not already on sale. The savings add up!

Offsite Tastings*

Candela Prol, highly experienced certified wine educator and friend of the shop, is available for tastings and training for private and corporate events.
For rates and other inquiries, please contact her at
candelaprol@gmail.com
.

*Offsite events are contracted to and coordinated by a 3rd party, and are in no way affiliated with Chambers Street Wines.

Tastings & Events

Featured Articles

Drinking Old Wine
Many of our favorite wines have been old bottles. While the great majority of wines are made to be consumed within a couple of years of their production, the relatively few wines that are intended to age can offer absolutely magical tasting experiences.
We are pleased to offer older wine

Decanting Wine
The following will GREATLY enhance your pleasure with a bottle of older wine. It may sound like a hassle, but it’s really not so bad, and well worth the trouble.
Basic Wine Decanting 101
There is nothing complicated or mysterious about this process; just follow these simple instruct

New from the Jura: Les Granges Paquenesses!Loreline Laborde is living the fantasy many city dwellers have during rush hour: fleeing the city to live a quiet life in harmony with nature. After completing her formal studies in viticulture, Loreline left the bustling city of Montpellier to make wine in the undulating foothills of Tourmont, a vi

Broc Cellars Rocks!Based out of Berkeley, California, Broc Cellars is an exciting winery, headed by winemaker Chris Brockway, that focuses on offbeat wines from intriguing and often much older vineyards. Their winemaking process uses only native yeasts with minimal doses of SO2 at bottling. These wines

Chambers Street Holiday Whiskey GuideWhen the weather starts dipping below freezing and the holidays are upon us, I increasingly find myself reaching for a dram of the darker stuff. And as I look for interesting and exciting gifts for friends and family, a bottle of small batch and handcrafted whiskey makes it to the top of my list. Wh

In addition to excellent holdings in Pommard and Volnay, Domaine de Montille has vines in Corton as well as the Côte de Nuits.

Free Expression-The Effusive 2016s from Domaine de Montille

Share

One of our favorite Burgundy producers is de Montille in Volnay, a Domaine that dates back to the 1800s. Under Hubert de Montille, they were among the first to bottle their own wines rather than be subject to the whims of the negotiants. With exceptional holdings in Volnay as well as long-lived Pommards, the domaine, now under the assured leadership of Etienne de Montille and his right hand man, Brian Sieve is producing magnificent, organically-farmed Burgundies on both Côtes. And while the wines under Hubert's direction were notable for their stern, towering structure, the wines of Etienne display more suave structure while maintaining impeccable balance.

As those who follow Burgundy are likely aware, the 2016 vintage was especially trying for the growers with devastating frost in April, followed by mighty struggles in the vines through most of the spring and early summer. Luckily the remainder of the growing season was nearly perfect with clement weather until harvest. Yet despite the early setbacks and tiny yields, de Montille's wines are truly exceptional with soaring aromatics, luminous fruit, excellent terroir delineation, and an inner vibrance that is nearly electric. Winemaking showed more restraint with a bit less stem inclusion and less extraction to preserve the purity of the fruit. The wines are beautifully knit and have fabulous intensity with a sense of weightlessness and lift, while posessing the balance and structure to ensure long aging. John McIlwain

(Please note that the wines will arrive 5/21, and be available for delivery 5/22.)

If ever there was an argument for the elevation of Pommard 1er cru Rugiens to grand cru status, de Montille's Rugiens-Bas certainly makes a convincing case. The 2016 is 40% whole cluster with aging in 1/3 new oak. The robe is a dark ruby, nearing purple. Aromatically, this offers a kaleidoscopic array of dark flowers, black fruits, and deeply earthy scents with more seemingly in reserve. The palate is intensely flavored with plummy fruit, good mid-palate density, firm tannins and a firm core on ferrous minerality on a concentrated, long finish. This is offering good nascent complexity, though the impression is of a Rugiens that is coiled and will need time to reveal its potential. Given the better part of a decade in the cellar, this should be sensational as the magnificent fruit integrates with the significant structure and drink beautifully for another 10-15 years and beyond. John McIlwain

From a 1.51 ha parcel in the rocky soils of Taillepieds. Biodynamically farmed 100% whole cluster. Aged in 30% new oak barrels. The de Montille 2016 Volnay Taillepieds is one of the highlights in a vintage full of effusively floral and vibrantly precise Burgundies. The wine has a pale ruby robe. The nose is exuberantly scented with sweet aromas of wild roses, cherry blossom, and perfectly ripe wild cherry. The palate is incisively stony with the breathtakingly pure red fruits framed with mouthwatering acidity and a sapid mineral core. The rising finish is impressively persistent and offers that classic peacock's tail of after-aromas and flavors. The impression is one of energy and lift rather than density or mass, though this has the balance to age effortlessly. An exceptional Taillepieds and a perfect expression of the virtues of the excellent, if difficult vintage! Bravo to Etienne de Montille! John McIlwain

From the top of the slope planted in shallow limestone soils. 66% whole cluster. 60% new oak. The 2016 Malconsorts has a deeply-pitched nose with extravagant red and dark berry fruit, spice, game, and sousbois. The tightly coiled palate offers pure wild fruit, sapid earth notes, and layers of spice, black tea, and dense plummy stone fruit flavors overlaying a firm ripe structure, leading to a long explosive finish. This is tightly wound today, but should sing with 10-12 years in the cellar. This is truly impressive and has a long life ahead. John McIlwain

From the Les Longbois lieu-dit in Volnay as well as a number of parcels in Puligny-Montrachet with the addition of fruit from frosted parcels in Volnay and Pommard. The 2016 de Montille Bourgogne Rouge has a medium dark ruby robe and an expressive nose alive with hedge fruit and redolent of forest floor with aromas of sweet, ripe wild strawberry. The palate is initially taut with a distinctive mineral cast giving way to pure red fruit flavors of red currant, pomegranate, and wild strawberry with a pleasing hint of sauvage lending an earthy foundation to support all the wild berry character. This has punchy acidity and a cool-toned herbaceousness adding lift and brightness. Delicious with air, but better still with a year or two in the cellar for a more integrated drinking experience. I find myself impressed with Domaine De Montille at all levels in 2015 and 2016 where everything seems to have come together. John McIlwain

From a 1.26 ha parcel just south of the famed Vigne de l'Enfant Jésus lieu-dit from Bouchard. 1/3 whole cluster fermentation aged in 20% new oak. As with many growers in 2016 De Montille had losses from frost in many of their holdings and Beaune Grèves was down about 33% from a typical vintage. The robe is a dark ruby. The nose offers a balance of dark fruit, blackberry and violet aromas, and a sauvage, earthy character with hints of black tea and spice. The palate displays ripe dark fruit flavors with black cherry, black currant, and a touch of bramble giving way to a distinctive stoniness that shows a bit broader on the palate than the Taillepieds, with a deeply pitched savory finish. This has the class and stuffing to age with aplomb and is a deeply satisfying Beaune Grèves with enough flair and precision to warrant extended cellaring. John McIlwain

From .84 ha of old vines abutting Corton Bressandes. Fermented 2/3 whole cluster, 45% new oak. A rarity in 2016, the Corton Clos du Roi Grand Cru wasn't subject to the frost that afflicted the rest of the Côte d'Or. The wine has a deep ruby robe. The nose starts a bit circumspect and eventually offers aromas of dark fruits, game, black tea, mustard seed, and spice. The concentrated palate is a mélange of wild berries, cassis, soil notes and a ferrous minerality on a persistent, driving, powerful (though by no means rustic) finish.This displays grand cru class and will require the better part of a decade to resolve its structure, but this is a magnificent Clos du Roi and highly recommended. John McIlwain

From 1.35 hectares of organically-farmed vines. The 2016 vintage is 33% whole cluster fermentation aged in 30% new barrels. Pèzerolles is always one of the silkier and suppler expressions of Pommard (due to the limestone soils) with a fine core of stoniness within. In 2016 de Montille has released a beautiful example with a bright, high-toned nose with pretty aromas of wild strawberries, cherry, wet stone, and brown spice. The palate is lithe, racy, and mineral with pure red fruit and stone fruit flavors underlain by a savory, stony core and zesty acidity on a long, expressive, mouthwatering finish. This will benefit from a few years in the cellar and drink beautifully for a decade beyond. John McIlwain

From a 1.51 ha parcel in the rocky soils of Taillepieds. Biodynamically farmed 100% whole cluster. Aged in 30% new oak barrels. The de Montille 2016 Volnay Taillepieds is one of the highlights in a vintage full of effusively floral and vibrantly precise Burgundies. The wine has a pale ruby robe. The nose is exuberantly scented with sweet aromas of wild roses, cherry blossom, and perfectly ripe wild cherry. The palate is incisively stony with the breathtakingly pure red fruits framed with mouthwatering acidity and a sapid mineral core. The rising finish is impressively persistent and offers that classic peacock's tail of after-aromas and flavors. The impression is one of energy and lift rather than density or mass, though this has the balance to age effortlessly. An exceptional Taillepieds and a perfect expression of the virtues of the excellent, if difficult vintage! Bravo to Etienne de Montille! John McIlwain